Since May 2006

Archive

News

Get Your Purple On to Recognize Military Children

By Jim GaramoneDoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2016 Time to get your purple on, America.

April 15 is Purple Up! day, a time for Americans to show their support for military families. Department of Defense Education Activity schools will celebrate the event on April 20 because of spring recess.

Its to build awareness for the needs of military families, said Barbara A. Thompson, the director of the office of family readiness policy.

This is not a Defense Department program, but a grassrootseffort that began in 2011 as a way to honor the sacrifices military children make every day for the nation. According to the 4-H Military Partnerships [ http://4-hmilitarypartnerships.org/4h_military_partnerships/index.html?source=GovDelivery ] website, 4-H clubs in New Hampshire developed the Purple Up! for Military Kids initiative while working with the children of deployed National Guardsmen and reserve component members, and they saw Purple Up! as a way to build awareness in their communities.

Its grown like wildfire across the United States and now DoD has embraced it, too, Thompson said.

The 4-H went with purple because it is the color that symbolizes all branches of the military. It is a combination of Army green, Marine red, and Coast Guard, Air Force and Navy blue, according to the 4-H. The goal of Purple Up! is for military youth to actually see the support in their school, youth groups and the community.

Additional information

DISCLAIMER: These domain is owned and operated by MilitaryWives.com, Incorporated, a privately owned and operated Washington state corporation. Our officers, our Board of Directors, our employees and our designated representatives retain the privilege and the right to control access, the right of editting, removing ANY and ALL content placed on this domain (and our sister sites), and the right of removing ANY and or ALL individual accounts that in our sole opinion are disruptive and detrimental to our overall stated purpose of providing support to the military spouse. None of the United States Armed Services (United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, United States Army, United States Air Force, United States Coast Guard) nor any other component of the Department of Defense has approved, endorsed, or authorized these products / services / activities.